Traction-wheel.



J BEARD I TRACTION WHEEL. APPLIUATIOK r1121) 111.291.1911.

1,035,112. Patented Aug. 6.1912,

42/ v 13 2115 u. "\i "m r 1 i' mwwmm if tz qgve g 19 INVENTOR may Bearfi/ ATTORNEYS Toallwhdrriitmaycomem:

" JAMES BEARD, or VETERANS HOME, GALIFORN1 A.

TRACTION-WHEEL.

Be it known that I, James Banana citizen of the United States,"and' a resident of Veterans'Horne, inv thecounty of Napa and Stateof 'California,. have invented a new and Improved Traction-\Vlieel, of which'the following is a full, cl e'ar, and exact description..

This invention relates to tract-ion time for use-with -.r ad locomotives, traction en nes, agricultural implements and otherlves-r lcular structures, and has reference moreparticularly to a wheel of the class described, which comprises a revoluble rim having ras dially movable. feet, a series of 'freely movable guide. rollers} adapted: to be engaged by thef f g/and arranged to permit a in;

rality ofj herieetl to comii into cont-act si E multaneousli, with the'ground.

asimple'ystrong 'and durable traction wheel which' can' be with motor -driven ve- 80 I I I I the wheel, and aid in avoiding undue torhicles or .yehiclee adapted to be propelled by draft-a imflSwbyimeans' of which'tractive force canliefl: ed evenly, which permits ofxth %i,of; ,a fair rate ofspeed, which i y useful in heavy going,

such as; ud sand or badly constructed w'orrutt e il io and i,ii'which.the guide rollers-forsake movable feet assist in steadying sional stresses-yofthe vehicle structure.

TThe invention consists in the'construction and combination of parts-to be more fully described. hereinafter and particularly set forth in the claims. Reference. is tobe had to the accompanying drawings forming erence indicatecorreggonding parts in all the views, and-in 'wh1 4-.

. Figure 1 1s a plan iew of a motor-drivenvehicle having. wheels associated therewith,-.

which constitute em 'ments-of my inven.

tion; Fig. 2 is a side elevationof a wheel: I

constructed in. accordance with my inven.

tion, pert being-broken away; Fig. 3 is. a.

vertlcal section of the wheel; Fig.-'-4 is an enlarged in 1; ntary side-elevation show- 'ing,part of te'wheel and the guiding de vices, 'in section; Fig. 5 is a side 6115-- casing .for the guide rollers; and. Fig. 6-is a side elevation showing part vation of of a. guide casing androllers oi; modified form. I -Before; proceeding. toamore detailed ex-.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed April 2 1911. Serial in; 624,010.

.-,:-The.obje ct ofth'e invention s to provide .a. part of this specie. fication, in which similar characters of ref Patented Aug. 6, 1912.

planation of my invention, itv should be clearly understood that whilethe tract-ion wheel is articularly useful with motordriven vehicles, it can also be employed with wagons or other vehicles adapted to be drawn by animals.

While I have shown in the accompanying draw ngs a motor-driven vehicle having two traction wheels it may be found suflicicnt to "employ a single-centrally disposed wheel {of large dimension: The wheel or wheels can be attached to the vehicle'framein any suitable'manner, andthis and others of the -(i6ilfl1lS of construction, shown for example herewith; form no part ofthe invention, and can be varied inaccordance with individual preference and special conditions, without deviating "from the essence of the "invention a defined in the appended claims.

hicle, herewith, having a-body or-frame 10, and at the front end thereofy steering. road wheels '11- controlled by suitable steering mechanism 12. Atthejrear, the vehicle body at each side, has a; guide roller casing 13,:thefQrm and construction of which will ,be described in greater detail hereinafter.

The casings are secured to the body by means of'angle brackets 14, bolted in posi- The rear ordrivingaxle 16 ;is journaled in these bearings and has the ends projecting laterally beyondthe same. A prime mover 17 ofan suitable form is employed for actuating t e drivingzaxle and it may consist-for example of an internal combu tion engine.- Itwill be understood that 1t is desirable, from a practical standpoint, to

Referring morepatticularly. to the draw-- ings, Ihave illustrated a niotbr-driven-ve- 'tion. Upon each casing is bolted or otherwise secured'a bearing15, these are. alined transversely of. the length-of the vehicle.

construct the axle in=two sections, and to associate therewith differential gearing, or

other necessary mechanical elements. These "details-are however, not shown an the present= embodiment of: the; invention, as-they- .form n0 partofthe'latter; 3 Thetwo traction-wh ls aresimiigr and .each comprises a rim 18 of annular form,

and having. in'the outer :face a grooveor zchannel 19, extending around the same, for .thepurpose of'decreasinggthe weight of the giving it sufficient Wldtlli The rim, though .mn is-provided with a plurality or radialjopeninga-QO in which are slidably mounted moi-responding, radially movable feet 21.

Located in each opening are stops 22 socured in place by means of bolts 23 and ad. ted to be engaged by the laterally exten ed inner ends 24 and the laterally extended outer ends 25 of the feet, so that the movements of the same are limited. The feet are disposed near the inner edges of the. wheel rims, and the latter are provided at the inside near the outer edges, with suitable gear teeth 26. Pinions 27 mounted upon stub shafts 28 mesh with the. gear teeth 26. The stub shafts are journaled in bearing brackets 29, secured in place by means of bolts 30 on the cover plates 31 of the guide roller casings. At each end the axle or shaft 16 has a sprocket 32 operatively connected by means of a chain 33, with a sprocket 34 secured rigidly upon the corresponding end of one of the stub shafts 28. It will be understood that if so desired the chains and sprockets can be replaced by directly meslun gear wheels.

Ihe guide ro ler casings are of substantially semicircular, rounded form, and each has a back 35 and radially disposed edge flanges 36 against which seats the front or cover 81. Within each casing is located a central guide member 37 of hollow form, for the sake of lightness, and having at the outer ed e a wedge-shaped laterally ex tended ri 38. The uide rollers 43 are reduced intermediate their ends, so that they have substantially the form of dumb-bells, the annular groove or recess belo of wedge or tapered cross-section, and con f orming to the cross-section of the rib 38. The inner ends 24 of the feet are also of correspondingly tapered wedge shape, and thus can engage t e reduced part 0 the guide rollers, as is clearly shown in Fig. 3. The guide rollers travel about't-he member 37 in the space between the latter and the flan e 36 of tie casing, bcaring lagainst the gui e member 37 when in t e lower portion of the casin This lower portion is inwardly disposed: or rather, upwardly rentrant, as is shown most clearly in Fig. 4. The flange 36, at the lower half of the casin has a cut away part or slot; 89 through wiiich the inner ends of the feet can come into engagement with the guide rollers as the rim revolves and brings the feet successively into operative relation with the tide means. he retintrant form of the guide casing is such that three of the feet are simultaneously in contact with the ground, thereby insuring most eilicient tractive action and bearing of the wheel. Of the three feetin contact with the ground at one time, the middle one enga es at substantially right angles thereto, t e end ones being angularly disposed and engagin the ound with-the op. osite edges, where y an e ectivo gagging 9 the ground is produced.

are illustrated m thepresent form of the device guide rollers 40 of elongated form and positioned at the inner and outer edges of the rims and in engagement therewith, the rollers bein journaled in suitable bearings l1 and bearin brackets 42 carried by the vehicle body. owever, I find that I can do away with these rollers if so desired provided the guide casin s are of suiiicient length to permit a plurality oi the feet to be enga ed therewith simultaneously. In the present orm of the invention it will be seen that as many as seven of the feet are in operative relation to the uide casing of each wheel, and the latter is thus steadied against lateral movements which would injure it or the adjacent and connected parts of the vehicle body, the driving mechanism, etc.

It will be understood that the revoluble rims of the traction wheels are actuated from the shaft or axle 16, with the connecting gear. In the wheels used in connection with horse-drawn vehicles or the like, the prime mover the axle and the gearing are of course eliminated. The rollers in my wheel are freely movable and thus not as do the balls or rollers in a bearing of that kind. It will be understood that owing to this fact the friction between the feet and the guide rollers is minimized. As the feet guidingly engage the rollers the latter travel along m the guide casing and the wei ht of the vehicle upon the feet is thus suitably supported upon the roller bearing.

I have found that it may be advisable to arran re the guide rollers so that the travel out 0 contact with each other. As s own in the modified form, I may employ a series of rollers 45 spaced apart, and connected by means of pivoted links 46. The rollers are arranged to travel about a guide part 47 of a roller casing which corresponds to the element 37, the rollers 45 themselves corresponding in form to the rollers 48 of the preferred form.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A wheel of the class described, comprising a revoluble rim having a plurality of radially movable, projecting feet, a fixed guide casing, a series of independent and reely movable guide rollers therein and providing an internal continuous path for said guit e rollers,said casing being cut away to permit said feet to come into engagement with said guide rollers, said path of said CtlSllli-flt the lower portion being reintrant.

wheel of the class described, com prising a revoluble rim having radial openmgs, e for limitin the radial movement of said i eet, a fixed guide casing having therein a continuous path, a series of nude rol lcrs freely movable in said path,'sai d path attihe et mounted in said openings, stops lit? each of said f'e'et having the inner endof wedge cross section, said casing being cut away to permit said inner ends of said feet to .come into engagement with said guide rollers, as said rim revolves.

3. A wheel'of the class described, having a revoluble rim having radially movable feet, a fixed, elongated guide casing arranged Within said rim, a series of freely. movable guide rollers therein, said casing Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Washington, D. G.

having at the lower portion a slot whereby a plurality of said feet is simultaneously 15 in contact with said rollers, and whereby theguide means serveto steady the rim in its movement.

In testimony whereof I have slgned my name to this specification in the presence of 20 two subscribing witnesses.

I JAMESBEARD.

Witnesses: v ROBERT S. GOUDY,- ROBERT CRAIG.

Commissioner of Patents, 

